הטלפון כמעט נפל מהשולחן, אבל הצלחתי להרים אותו בזמן.

כמעט means almost.

In this sentence, כמעט נפל = almost fell.

In Hebrew, כמעט usually comes before the verb or word it modifies:

• כמעט נפל = almost fell
• כמעט איחרתי = I almost was late / I almost arrived late

So the placement here is completely natural.

Because Hebrew often uses the past tense to describe something that almost happened in the past.

So:

• הטלפון כמעט נפל = the phone almost fell

Even though the fall did not fully happen, Hebrew still uses the past form נפל.

English does something similar with almost fell.

Because הטלפון is a masculine singular noun in Hebrew.

Hebrew verbs in the past tense agree with the subject in gender and number:

• הטלפון נפל = the phone fell
• הכוס נפלה = the cup fell

So here:

• הטלפון → masculine singular
• therefore → נפל

מהשולחן is made of:

• מ־ = from
• ה = the
• שולחן = table

So literally it is from the table.

In natural English, though, this often means off the table:

• נפל מהשולחן = fell off the table

Hebrew often uses מ־ where English prefers off.

Because Hebrew verbs often already include the subject.

הצלחתי means I succeeded / I managed.
The ending ־תי marks first person singular past: I.

So:

• הצלחתי = I managed
• אני הצלחתי = I managed

Both are possible, but אני is often omitted unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Because הצליח is commonly followed by an infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• הצלחתי + infinitive
• I managed + to do something

Examples:

• הצלחתי להרים אותו = I managed to pick it up
• הצלחתי להגיע = I managed to arrive
• הצלחתי להבין = I managed to understand

So להרים is the normal form after הצלחתי.

להרים means to lift, to raise, or in many contexts to pick up.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• to pick it up
• to grab it up
• to lift it in time

Because the phone almost fell, להרים suggests catching or picking it up before it hit the floor.

אותו is the direct object pronoun meaning him or it for a masculine singular noun.

Since הטלפון is masculine singular, Hebrew refers back to it with אותו:

• להרים אותו = to pick it up

Compare:

• אותו = him/it (masculine singular)
• אותה = her/it (feminine singular)

For example:

• הטלפון... הרמתי אותו
• הכוס... הרמתי אותה

Great question. With a full definite noun, Hebrew uses את before a direct object:

• הרמתי את הטלפון = I picked up the phone

But with object pronouns like אותו, אותה, אותם, you do not add another את.

So:

• הרמתי את הטלפון = correct
• הרמתי אותו = correct
• הרמתי את אותו = not correct in this meaning

In other words, אותו already functions as the object form.

Here it means in time — that is, before it was too late.

So:

• הצלחתי להרים אותו בזמן = I managed to pick it up in time

Depending on context, בזמן can sometimes mean on time, but in this sentence the meaning is clearly in time, because the speaker prevented the phone from falling.

Not in the same way, if you want the meaning the phone and the table.

• הטלפון = the phone
• השולחן = the table

Without ה־:

• טלפון = a phone / phone
• שולחן = a table / table

This sentence is talking about a specific phone and a specific table, so the definite article ה־ is the natural choice.

The given word order is very natural and neutral:

• הטלפון כמעט נפל מהשולחן, אבל הצלחתי להרים אותו בזמן.

But Hebrew does allow some flexibility for emphasis.

For example, you might also hear:

• כמעט נפל הטלפון מהשולחן...
  This is less neutral and may sound more literary or emphatic.

• אבל בזמן הצלחתי להרים אותו
  Grammatically possible, but less natural in everyday speech.

So the original sentence is the most straightforward everyday phrasing.